I'm Sick and I'm Tired.............

She's ILLEGAL......nobody knows who she is....... PROSECUTE HER.....SEND HER TO JAIL.....THEN SEND HER BACK WHERE SHE BELONGS........ While we're at it send THEM all back to Mexico.

That's all I've heard on all the local TV newscast. I woke up this a.m. and turned on Channel 5 news and that was the first thing I heard, I almost vomited right then and there. I feel so bad for the kids and families from Cottonwood, it is the most tragic school bus accidents in MN. history but enough is enough.

Granted what Ms. Morales hitting the bus was a terrible thing and I don't know the details but I firmly believe if she would have been white I don't think we would have heard anything past the 1st day other then a followup. There has been many bus accidents and I've never heard as much about them as this one especially about her immigration status.

What does her immigration status have to do with the fact that she may have run a stop sign and rammed into a bus? To keep bringing this up hour after hour for 4 days and how many more seems like a little overkill.

I find it hard to swallow that when something like this happens involving an immigrant there is such an outcry for truth and justice. "Let's get rid of all those "Illegals" and while we're at it just about any immigrant who is trying to find a better life here".

I can't believe what I'm seeing and hearing. I thought MN. Nice was still around but I'm finding it harder and harder to find. I'm finding that if someone makes a mistake let's kick them while we're down.

This is the first time since the Presidential Elections four years ago that I've been so disgusted with TV news and the newspapers in the cities with their front page bashing for days with anything Immigration.

In this Easter Season I'm finding it very disheartening that we can't treat ALL people as equals. What right do we Americans have when many of our grandparents were Immigrants. Who are we to say that this country is strictly ours. What is happening? I'm worried for our children who are witnessing the hate. I thought I left that all behind in the 60's but it's days like this I feel that hate is alive and well. Where is the "Treat others as you want to be Treated"?

As disheartened as I am today and "Sick and Tired", I will continue to put this in the past and be positive with my colleagues and try to make Faribault and Minnesota a gentler place for ALL of us to live and grow.

While I'm at it how about changing "Illegal" to "Undocumented", I think it wouldn't be so harsh.

This are my thoughts, not necessarily those of the Faribault Diversity Coalition.

Have a gentle day,

Milo Larson
Faribault, MN

"Carpentry Classes, A little help, a little guidance"

The Welcome Center is collaborating with the Northfield Community Action Center over the next few weeks to offer carpentry classes in Spanish. The project's purpose is to provide an opportunity for Spanish-speaking community residents to learn basic carpentry and house construction skills, useful both in the upkeep of their own homes and as a potential job skill. As dreams go, it could also be the beginning of a future self-built housing project, where the skills learned translate into sweat equity for those wishing to support one another in home ownership.

But for now, the focus is on learning how "16 inches on center" lays out and how to frame in a window or door according to code. Participants will also learn thebasics of roofing and siding, become informed about new energy-efficient alternatives, and walk away with some new skills. Volunteer instructors bring qualified experience: Bill Sartor has supervised the construction of nine Habitat for Humanity homes; Omar Herrejon works as a roofer; Greg Caron has many years of hands-on experience to share...This effort, like most we do, seeks to strengthen the community connection as well, bringing people together. Already some of the participants have offered their assistance with the construction of this summer's Habitat for Humanity house...an opportunity to learn while they also contribute to a community need.

While this is a first effort, we do not see it as the last. We continue to seek volunteer instructors and learning opportunities so that people may develop their skills further. It would be great if it could open the way for some to join the carpentry training at South Central or find their way into a union apprenticeship. But for now, we see it as part of "Minnesota inculturation". Coming from lands where construction commonly uses other materials, learning to drive nails into studs is a new and valuable lesson.

Our thanks goes out to the Northfield CAC's Newcomer Project, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of MN Foundation, and the Foldcraft Foundation for their generous support of the project and our program. We couldn't do it without them.

For more information, please contact us at the Welcome Center, 333-5036. Bob Kell--Welcome Center Director

Welcome Center
24 W. Division St., Ste B
Faribault, MN 55021
507-333-5036
FAX 507-333-5037

MLK - Bridges Community School Presentation/Black History Month

Submitted by Jane Lebert - Human Resources
South Central College

Bridges Community School (http://yoda.isd77.k12.mn.us/bridges/) is a K-6 grade and part of District 77 in Mankato. It is unique in the fact that each year they hold a lottery and fill only a specific number of seats K-6. The school just expanded this year and now enroll 150 kids. Both of our boys go here and have since Kindergarten. When we were in one of our meetings I asked if they considered opening it up to the elementary schools. I am a firm believer that prejudice reduction and diversity starts with our youth. And we were missing a great opportunity to here to hear from some young people whom are exposed to many difference cultures and ethnic groups everyday.

Student Presentation on their thoughts about Martin Luther King Jr. and his dream, Click on title of this blog, or paste the following on your browser:
http://mediabarn.southcentral.edu/archive/mlk

Mission
Bridges Community School's mission is to
provide an innovative educational choice
for K-6 grade students and families that promotes
and nurtures lifelong-learning and engaged
citizenship in a safe and supportive environment.

Vision
We will engage in continuous improvement of
The Bridges program by examining current
Scientific research on learning by collaborating with
Others in the community to provide the highest
Quality education for K-6 students.

Our program will support student success through:
•individual learning plans designed for each child
•high personal and academic standards in an open, continuous-progress, multi-age setting
•project-based, hands-on learning experiences
•active participation by parents and intereste community members in the school environment

Black History Month

Submitted by Ricki Walters, Regional Diversity Trainer/Investigator
Riverland Community College

February is African American/Black History Month. It’s a time to commemorate the many significant contributions African Americans have made to our country. African Americans have participated fully in this country’s development since colonial days, but often, their contributions were not included in our history books.

Dr. Carter Woodson, a Harvard scholar and son of former slaves, introduced Negro History Week on February 19, 1926. He chose the second week of February because the birthdays of Fredrick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln are observed then. His hope was that the important contributions of black Americans to our history would be recognized. He dedicated his life to this idea.

In 1976, Negro History Week was expanded into Black History Month. Today, it is celebrated in communities across the country with programs and activities that recall and honor the history and accomplishments of African Americans.

At South Central College we will be celebrating Black History Month with Soul Food. On February 12, 2008, Chef C. Maxille Moultrie will spend the day working with our culinary students. A “Soul Food” dinner in the SCC cafeteria will begin at 6:00 p.m. and include a short presentation by Chef Moultrie and music from local talent. This event is open to South Central College students and employees, as well as the general public. Admission is $10 for adults and $8 for students and seniors, preschool children are free. Tickets are available at SCC’s Bookstore. This event is co-sponsored by SCC’s Diversity Committee and the Greater Mankato Area Diversity Council.

You can find more information about Black History Month and distinguished African Americans at: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhm1.html or http://www.biography.com/blackhistory/.